Did you not catch the inconsistency part? They could be winning in one event and totally bomb the next. Like Polina. Hilarious. Why do people get so defensive? :sheesh:

So? It's not about USA vs. Russia. This is 2010, we're not in the cold war era anymore, Lucky Star. Did you just watch Salt or something? .

It's hard at that age to be very consistent. Girls are growing very fast, their bodies change a lot, hormones and nerves are raging, pressure is felt, etc. Christina is consistent now but she's 16, and 2 years ago she was not very consistent or that good. Give these girls time and they may grow out of these inconsistent tendencies. And besides, it's only really Polina A and Anna that are inconsistent, Adelina and Liza are a little inconsistent but they never really bomb, and Shelepen is usually good about landing her jumps even if the rest of her performance is all over the place.

We's seen most of the up and coming Russian ladies perform on the JGP already. Adelina clearly the standout, Polina S was good on her jumps but her component marks show the rest of her skating needs work, Rosa skated quite well in one event and poorly in the other and has gorgeous jumps but presentation still needs work, Liza had moments of brilliance but let the nerves get to her and her marks were lower than most of us expected, Polina A had an off night but showed she still has the goods when it comes to her spins and 3lz-3t. I guess the only girl we haven't seen yet is Anna. Looking at Gao's and Sotnikova's PCS scores at this event, I tend to think Anna will be able to get very high marks on the JGP so long as she lands her jumps. I'm worried if her lack of a 3-3 will hurt her though, or maybe she has a 3-3 now. She is my favorite of all the young Russians, and very unique, but in this field, I hope she doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

Arg too bad for Agafanova, she is so cutie! LuckyStar I counted more then 10 this season and by the way I m new fan of Radionova since I saw her program in RC yesterday, and Adelina last year in Cor ex was great!!! I m confusing the names still but I m working on it.

Originally Posted by Lucky Star

Just saying... So if Russia has no chance, USA and Japan obviously don't have any chances either... Who will skate in 2014?

Yeah!! Adelina was amazing!! She didn't do her 3rd combination though!! So maybe she might score higher in the next competition Maybe 180+? A junior record?? Her components are already in the 50s so we can expect 180+ by the end of the season hopefully! Christina also did great!

Exactly, consistency comes with time. Those girls might never develop it. . I didn't say Russia has no chance. I said Russia might not have a contender. There's a subtle difference.

Polina is showing all sign of UR in most of her jumps even at this age. I don't even know how she will make it out of Russia. UR isn't easy to fix.

You're giving us Americans a bad name. To say that the Russians are inconsistent but not mention the Americans' issues? Okay...

Russia has some really talented young ladies. It's not like all of them are going to succumb to the puberty monster. Sotnikova has fabulous technique...I expect she will be a major force in the senior ranks in a few years. Ditto for Gao...I am majorly impressed with both of them!!

Exactly, consistency comes with time. Those girls might never develop it. . I didn't say Russia has no chance. I said Russia might not have a contender. There's a subtle difference.

Polina is showing all sign of UR in most of her jumps even at this age. I don't even know how she will make it out of Russia. UR isn't easy to fix.

Anna O had lots of UR issues, especially on her lutz, at the beginning of last season and then she fixed them by the time Junior Nationals and Junior Worlds came around. She fell twice in her Jr. Worlds FS but both those jumps were fully rotated. So it can be worked on.

Sotnikova is amazing - she's so young and she's already landing both the 3L-3T and 3L-3R and getting positive GOEs for them?! Look out, Sochi! She's going to be a force for sure...now, if she hasn't undergone puberty yet I may have to revise my expectations. Oh, and that icky baby pink dress she had on in the SP has got to go, stat.

Gao has a few nice jumps, but so far her presentation is just very blah, and the fact that she is about as limber as Kim Yu-Na doesn't help, either.

Sotnikova is amazing - she's so young and she's already landing both the 3L-3T and 3L-3R and getting positive GOEs for them?! Look out, Sochi! She's going to be a force for sure...now, if she hasn't undergone puberty yet I may have to revise my expectations. Oh, and that icky baby pink dress she had on in the SP has got to go, stat.

Gao has a few nice jumps, but so far her presentation is just very blah, and the fact that she is about as limber as Kim Yu-Na doesn't help, either.

Being about as limber as Kim Yu-Na might help her in the long run. I mean, being very flexible hasn't gotten Czisny and Zhang that far...

Originally Posted by FlattFan
Exactly, consistency comes with time. Those girls might never develop it. . I didn't say Russia has no chance. I said Russia might not have a contender. There's a subtle difference.

Polina is showing all sign of UR in most of her jumps even at this age. I don't even know how she will make it out of Russia. UR isn't easy to fix.

I don't think you really realize how much talent the Russians have right now amongst 11-14 year olds. They have quite easily the most depth of any nation about a dozen girls with talent. Polina A was never the most hyped. Adelina won Russian SENIOR nationals at 12 and just put out the highest debut score short and long ever for a girl. At least one of those kids will make it through. And competitive mettle will be there too because it will be difficult to get through to the international stage.

Being about as limber as Kim Yu-Na might help her in the long run. I mean, being very flexible hasn't gotten Czisny and Zhang that far...

Not being very flexible is not a good thing in itself, I think. But I do remember reading something related to the trade-off between good flexibility and solid jump technique. Maybe this depends on each skater but I tend to believe that there actually can be a negative correlation between the two since we've seen many flexible skaters with hammer toe. That being said, I don't think Yuna lacks flexibility too bad. She does bielman spin and has pretty good upper body position for layback. I also wish she could refine her lines a little, but I don't see a big problem now either.

Adelina amazed me especially because she looked very balanced for a junior lady. She has nice stretch, yet her jumps look powerful with very good spring. I agree with Andalusia's whole post including the ickiness of the dress. Maturing with time into a better artist, she'll be great to watch! Hope she doesn't get hit too hard with puberty.

I have one question about her technique, though - does she flutz? Couldn't tell clearly from the youtube video, but seems to me that it was not a deep outside edge.

I don't think you really realize how much talent the Russians have right now amongst 11-14 year olds. They have quite easily the most depth of any nation about a dozen girls with talent. Polina A was never the most hyped. Adelina won Russian SENIOR nationals at 12 and just put out the highest debut score short and long ever for a girl. At least one of those kids will make it through. And competitive mettle will be there too because it will be difficult to get through to the international stage.

I wouldn't be surprised if most of them made it through. I mean, Birukova and Zaseeva seem to be a little affected by puberty this season, but the other girls all seem strong despite having gone through big growthspurts recently.

Yea, I don't know why people are on Polina's case. She had an inconsistent performance, which is completely normal, especially for someone as young as her. It's too hard to predict the long-term future for anyone, especially a little 13 or 14 year old. She can be very proud of her SP performance here!

Yea, I don't know why people are on Polina's case. She had an inconsistent performance, which is completely normal, especially for someone as young as her. It's too hard to predict the long-term future for anyone, especially a little 13 or 14 year old. She can be very proud of her SP performance here!

Absolutly right. I really hope she can do better at her second event and especially later in the season.
Not to forget that she changed to Urmy after Junior Worlds. He can help her with the jumps, where she does not always have the best technique, but that will need some time.